We have Provided the NCERT/CBSE Solutions chapter-wise for Class 12 English Poems Chapter 6 Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers with Answers by expert subject teacher for latest syllabus and examination. Students also can take a free NCERT Solutions of Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers. Each question has right answer Solved by Expert Teacher.
NCERT Solutions Class 12 English Flamingo Poems
Q1. How do ‘denizens’ and ‘chivalric’ add to our understanding of the tiger’s attitudes?
Answers: Animals naturalised in a region or the inhabitants of a particular region are called denizens. Since the natural habitat of the tigers is forest, the poet has correctly defined it as ‘denizens of a world of green’. Tigers are characteristically masters of their own domain.
The poet also refers to the tiger as being ‘chivalric’. The exceptional heroic courage when facing danger is termed as chivalry. To explain this, the poet goes on to say that the tigers were not afraid of the men standing under a tree and went on prancing with ‘certainty’. Since tigers are brave, ferocious and gallant creatures, the poet has used the term ‘chivalric’.
Q2. Why do you think Aunt Jennifer’s hands are ‘fluttering through her wool’ in the second stanza? Why is she finding the needle so hard to pull?
Answers: Aunt Jennifer is working with her ivory needle on her wool. Her fingers are quivering. She is busy knitting after making the tigers with massive uncle’s wedding band. The heavy weights sits heavily on her hand. So she is finding the needle too hard to pull.
Q3. What is suggested by the image ‘massive weight of uncle’s wedding band’?
Answers: The ‘wedding band’ that the poet talks about was the wedding ring worn by Aunt Jennifer. The image ‘massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band’ suggests that she was overburdened with duties and responsibilities, post her marriage.
Q4. Of what or whom is Aunt Jennifer terrified in the third stanza?
Answers: What are the ‘ordeals’ Aunt Jennifer is surrounded by? Why is it significant that the poet uses the word ‘ringed’? What are the meanings of the word ‘ringed’ in the poem.
The ‘ordeals’ refer to the responsibilities and duties that Aunt Jennifer has been doing in a patriarchal society. The poet has used the word ‘ringed’ so as to emphasize the fact that she has to carry the weight of her marriage band, whether dead or alive.
Q5. What are the ‘ordeals’ Aunt Jennifer is surrounded by? Why is it significant that the” poet uses the word ‘ringed”! What are the different meanings of ‘ringed’ in the poem?
Answers: The poem addresses the experiences of marriage in the midst of constrictions. The word ‘ringed’ is significant. It suggests that the vicious grip or her unhappy married life is still holding her tightly. The word ‘ringed’ has been used in two ways. First is the conventional
use. Here ring is a symbol of the sacred bond of marriage. The other is the figurative use of ‘ringed’. It means encircled or surrounded.
Q6. Why do you think Aunt Jennifer created animals that are so different from her own character? What might the poet be suggesting, through this difference?
Answers: Aunt Jennifer created an alternative world of freedom, one which she could not inhabit otherwise. The tigers of her creation represented her suppressed desires and her ambition. She was victimised, and stifled in marriage, by the absent figure of the Uncle, represented only by his wedding band. She escaped her reality through her creation. The poet presents an ironic image of a contrast between the common perception of animals as being brutal and of men being humane. Here, the ‘brutal’ tiger represents freedom while the ‘civilised’ man is exposed as the oppressor.
Q7. Interpret the symbols found in this poem.
Answers: Wedding band: Symbol of oppression in an unhappy marriage. Marriage is social and legal binding, making women silently accept their subjugation and male domination, . especially in a patriarchal society. Its weight refers to the burden of gender expectations. Ringed means encircled or trapped, losing individuality and freedom.
Aunt Jennifer: A typical victim of male oppression in an unhappy marriage, who suffers loss of individuality, dignity and personal freedom silently. She becomes dependent, fearful and frail.
Tigers: Tigers symbolise untamed free spirit. Here, they are antithesis of their creator’s personality. The use of colours implies that Aunt Jennifer’s tigers and their land are more vital and enjoy a sense of freedom far greater than her. Yellow (bright topaz) connotes the sun and fierce energy, while green reminds of spring and vitality. The tigers pace and prance freely, proudly, fearless, confident and majestic in their bearing.
Q8. Do you sympathise with Aunt Jennifer? What is the attitude of the speaker towards Aunt Jennifer?
Answers: Yes, we do sympathise with Aunt Jennifer. She has experienced hardships and ordeals during her married life. The attitude of the speaker towards Aunt Jennifer is equally sympathetic. The poet gives many suggestive images and symbols to present an old lady who has passed through painful experiences as well as unpleasant and terrifying periods during her married life.
EXTRA QUESTIONS OF Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
Q1. What picture of male chauvinism (tyranny) do we find in the poem, ‘Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers’?
Answer: The poem depicts how Aunt Jennifer feels oppressed by her tyrannous husband who stifles her creativity and freedom by dominating her. He represents a typical male of a patriarchal society.
Q2. How has Aunt Jennifer created her tigers? What traits of tigers do they reveal!
Answer: Aunt Jennifer’s tigers are her own creations. She works with wool and ivory needles. She has created them in the panel. They have all the traits of the beasts of prey who are denizens of green forests. They are well-built and well-groomed. They are chivalric and full of confidence.
Q3. What do you learn about Aunt Jennifer?
Answer: Aunt Jennifer was a weak woman with fluttering fingers. She was terrified of Uncle and found it difficult to manoeuvre the needle. Thus, implying that she was oppressed by a burdensome marriage where she was subjugated by Uncle.
Q4. How has Aunt Jennifer created her tigers? What traits of tigers do they reveal?
Answer: Aunt Jennifer has embroidered the tigers on a panel with an ivory needle and wool. The tigers that she has created are wild and free bright golden yellow denizens of the green forest. They are fearless and bold, jumping around with confidence, totally opposed to her own character.
Q5. What lies heavily on Aunt Jennifer’s hand? How is it associated with her husband?
Answer: The ‘wedding ring’ lies heavily on Aunt Jennifer’s hand. This is associated with her husband because his dominant behaviour has oppressed Aunt Jennifer and made the ‘wedding ring’ a heavy burden for her.
Q6. What is the weight that lies heavy on Aunt Jennifer’s hand? Hou: is it associated with her husband?
Answer: Aunt Jennifer is working with ivory needles and wool. But she can’t move her fingers freely in the wool. She finds it hard to pull even the ivory needles easily. The experiences
of her past married life are quite bitter. She has unpleasant memories of her married life with her husband. The heavy weight of the wedding band sits heavily upon her hand.
Q7. What is the theme of the poem?
Answer: “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” clearly reflects the gender struggle that women across the world are subject to. It is a feminist poem in which the poet criticizes the male-dominated world. Aunt Jennifer is left no option than to create an alternate world of freedom. Aunt Jennifer is a woman trapped by the social and cultural expectations and demands of her time.
Q8. How does the poet describe Aunt Jennifer’s tigers?
Answer: The poet describes Aunt Jennifer’s tigers as ‘bright topaz denizens of the green forest’. They are fearless. They pace in ‘sleek’ chivalry.
Q9. What will happen to Aunt Jennifer’s tigers when she is dead?
Answer: Aunt Jennifer’s tigers will survive her. She has created the tigers in a panel. They are made of wool. These objects of art will survive their creator. The tigers will go on jumping, proud and unafraid.
Q10. What picture of male chauvinism (tyranny) do we find in the poem, ‘Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers’?
Answer: It shows constraints that a married woman experiences. Uncle’s wedding band on Aunt Jennifer’s hand symbolises oppressive band of patriarchal society. Aunt Jennifer is forced to live in accordance with the rules laid down by her husband. She does not have any freedom.
Q11. Do you sympathise with Aunt Jennifer? Why?
Answer: Yes, I do sympathise with Aunt Jennifer because she is in a pathetic condition. She is oppressed and
denied any freedom. She is living a life of a slave. In fact, it is totally inhuman to take away anyone’s . freedom.
Q12. How are Aunt Jennifer’s tigers different from her?
Answer: Aunt Jennifer is a meek and suppressed woman in a male-dominated society. She is denied every kind of freedom and is always oppressed. But the tigers that she has made are free, bold, confident, chivalric, and courageous.
Q13. How do the words, ‘denizens’ and ‘chivalric’ add to our understanding of Aunt Jennifer’s tigers?
Answer: The tigers are referred to as ‘denizens’ and ‘chivalric’ as they are in their habitats. They are fearless and gallant. These tigers are confident and masters of their domain. They have respectable position in the world of animals.
Q14. What will happen to Aunt Jennifer’s tigers when she is dead?
Answer: The tigers that Aunt Jennifer has embroidered will outlive her. They will keep on moving blatantly, confidently and intrepidly even after her death as they belong to the piece of art which is immortal.
Q15. How are Aunt Jennifer’s tigers different from her?
Answer: Aunt Jennifer’s tigers are a picture of strength, beauty and certainty. They seem to be jumping across a screen. They “pace in sleek chivalric certainty”. They are confident and impressive. Aunt Jennifer is a weak, depressed and terrified person. Life has been a cup of woes for her. She is still in the grip of those ordeals and terrors that she faced and suffered from dining her married life. Her fingers are so ‘terrified’ that they find it hard to pull even the ivory needle. Thus, the contrast is amply highlighted.
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